Alice in Wonder

Halloween books, printable activities, easy costume ideas, non-candy treats, reusable decor and screen-free fun for kids and adults. Think literary costumes, friendly monsters, vintage postcards, LEGO, odd little October finds and free Halloween rabbit holes. Some I made myself; all are here because October is better when it gets a little strange.

BookTok, but make it literary. Quiet classics, translated fiction, strange women, existential dystopias and books about loneliness, identity and what it means to be human. Some went viral overnight, others somehow found a second life decades later — these are the books I’d actually follow down the rabbit hole.

Books about writing, memory, survival and the strange human need to leave something behind. From Atwood and Haushofer to Ogawa, Piranesi and Mary Shelley - stories about why we write, what words preserve, and whether a story still matters when there may be no one left to read it.

Start with a mysterious house. End somewhere between a labyrinth, a haunted room and the inside of your own head.

Not every “life-changing” book changes your life. These are the ones that left me with an idea I actually used, a habit I kept, a question I still think about - or a completely different way of looking at something. Self-help, psychology, philosophy and fiction included.

Some classics feel respectfully old. These feel like somebody wrote them last Tuesday and then accidentally published them in 1967. This is my shelf of forgotten classics, cult novels, strange dystopias and beautifully odd books that somehow got there before the rest of us - writing about isolation, climate anxiety, technology, power, women opting out, media overload and the general suspicion that civilization may not be going entirely to plan. A good place to look if you’ve already read the obvious classics, need a genuinely interesting book gift, or want something strange for a very long winter evening.

Canadian literature is much bigger than The Handmaid’s Tale, Alice Munro and Anne of Green Gables. These are 25 Canadian books I’d actually use to explore it: famous novels, Indigenous voices, immigrant stories, strange literary experiments, Montreal, Newfoundland, Toronto, the Prairies and several books that made me wonder why nobody had handed them to me earlier. Start with the names you know. Then wander off.

Polish literature is much stranger than The Witcher - and I mean that as a compliment. These are 25 Polish books available in English, from Nobel winners and Netflix source material to haunted trains, feminist forest fever dreams, gangsters, sci-fi and classics that are considerably less well-behaved than their reputation suggests. If you want to explore Polish literature in translation but have no idea where to start, start here.

Taiwanese novels, short stories, memoirs and literary works in English translation - from Taipei and island memory to Indigenous writing, queer fiction, family history and the White Terror. A reading list for anyone who wants to discover Taiwan beyond travel guides.

Books, notebooks, writing tools and creative systems I actually use - from learning the craft and building a story to editing, finding your voice and keeping the whole thing moving when the initial enthusiasm has left the building.

Build an analog bag for the moments when you’d normally reach for your phone. Books, puzzles, tiny crafts, journals, field guides and curious little things to keep your hands busy and your mind somewhere more interesting than the scroll. Pick a few, put them in a bag, and see where boredom takes you.

Book lover gifts for people who would rather be reading - literary clothes, journals, bookmarks, reading accessories, cozy finds and small bookish luxuries. Useful things, ridiculous things and a few objects that exist mainly because apparently owning books was not enough.

Shopping for a LEGO lover who already has too many sets? These gift ideas go beyond another box of bricks: clever storage and display finds, desk accessories, books, games, puzzles, personalized gifts, home decor and genuinely useful ideas for adult LEGO fans. I’ve included a few things we actually use at home, plus some free LEGO rabbit holes for people who never really outgrew building - and have no intention of starting now.

Streaming is convenient. Physical music is more fun. A collection of portable CD players, cassette players, wired headphones, retro boomboxes and little analog pleasures for anyone rediscovering CDs, mixtapes and old-school listening. Some are genuinely useful, some are beautifully unnecessary - which is exactly the point.

A practical 3-day Taipei itinerary for a first trip to Taiwan - with two hotel options, a full first day in the city, four different ideas for a day trip, a slower third day through old Taipei, plus food and transport essentials. Expect imperial treasures, Taipei 101, mountain views, lead type, Taiwanese tea chocolate, temples, dumplings and the occasional extremely pink 7-Eleven. It’s the Taipei I’d show someone who wants to see the famous things without spending three days seeing only famous things.

A tightly edited family emergency go bag essentials list - just the things I’d actually want ready by the door. No survival-show fantasy, no 47 gadgets: practical gear, a few smart free printables, and the basics that still work when your phone doesn’t.

I went through far too many blackout products so you don’t have to. This is a tightly edited list of power outage essentials for home backup power, lights, food and water basics, safety gear and a few things that make being offline less miserable. No bunker-building. No 47-item survival fantasy. Just the things I think are actually worth having.

College essentials for studying, surviving and staying vaguely human - books, coffee, headphones, cozy layers, desk comforts and the little things nobody tells you you’ll need until you really do.